Bubbling drinking-fountain.



S. O.'KEITH, JR. BUBBLING DRINKING FOUNTAIN.

APPLICATION FILED JAIL-25. 1910.

Pat ented Mar. 5'

Q. I Z w human stares ra'rnnr oration.

BUBBLING DRINKING-FOUNTAIN.

To-aZZ whomz't mag concern: v f

Be-itknown that I, SIMEoN C. KEITH J r'.,

of So'merville, in the county of Midd esex and Stateof Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in.

Bubbling Drinking-Fountains, of which the following "is a specification.

This invention has relation to drinking fountains, such as are used igse hoolsaud otherpublic places, in which the water bubbles or isdischarged upward in a short stream from a nozzle, "so thata personassuaging his thirst'may put his lips directly to the nozzle and drinkthe water as it emerges therefrom. Such fountains fulfil allrequirements in preventing the spread of contagious or infectiousdiseases, inasmuch as the stream of water, so far as is known, washesaway any germs or microbes which may be left by the person lastdrinking, and for this reason such fountains have been widely adopted.

In the practical use ot such fountains,

however, a ditficulty has arisen, and this in rooms are not in use, andhence at recess,-

when the water-closets require a practically constant flow of water andthe fountains are most in demand, the bubble or jet is reduced to itsminimum. On the other hand, were the 'height of the bubble or jet fixedwhen all the other fixtures were being used and water being deliveredthereto, the pressure in the fountains at normal periods would be sogreat that the jet or bubble would be too strong and rise to a too greatheight.

As stated, theobject of the present invention is to provide suchdrinking fountains with means for regulating the water pressure so thatthe height of the bubble or jet will remain constant at all times. Tothis end I provide a bubbling fountain head,

which may be attached to the end of a service pipe and which isself-contained and se f;

Specification of Letters lPatent. Application filed. January 259* 1910.'Serial No. 539,965.

SI'MEON C. KEITH, 33., OF S0IMIIZIBNIZIZJLQE, MASSACHUSETTS.

forma jet or bubble, and between said nozzle or opening and an inletportthe head is provided with an -,instru mentality which so controlsthe passage of the water 'to the nozzle that, the waterdelivered to thelatter is ata'constant pressure irrespective of the pressure in theservice pipe.

' On the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated two differentembodiments of the invention, and doubtless others will suggestthemselves to persons skilled in the art towhom this disclosure is made.

. Figure l ofthe drawing illustrates a bubbling drinking fountainprovided with my invention. Fig. 2- represents a vertical sectionalview, full size, of another embodiment of the invention. Fig. 3represents'a horizontal section on the line 3'3of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4; represents a similar sectionon th line 4-4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5represents a vertical section through the base of the cup and shows thethrottling valve removed. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a piston usedin my device. Fig. 7 represents a vertical section through the fountainshown in Fig. 1.

It is quite apparent that the invention may be utilized in variousstandard drinking fountains which are supported by columns or otherwise.

In Fig. 1, I have illustrated somewhat conventionally a sink consistingof a hollow slab a having a wall plate I). The water which is receivedin the slab a, is conducted to the sewer through a dischargepipe 0having the usual trap. d indicates a service pipe through which water isdelivered to the nozzle as will be explained.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 2 to 6 inclusive,which illustrates a Patented Mar. 5, 1912. Y

the cup and the casing it are separable, yet, a

when connected, they form a single casing,

constitute in one,.instrumentality a bubbling fountain, and inclose thereducing valve to be described. From the interior of the flange thereleads a conduit :16 which terminates at its' end in a valvejseat having"a port 17 communicating with a cylindrical' passageway 18.. The conduitand, -ssagea 5 way are formed by an arm19 exten ding inwardlyfrom thecylindrical .wall tjf the cas- .151 spring projects into v a socket 24with ,which' j a' cap 25," screwed .on the'lower end of the, casing,is;provided. The piston is provided-*;

v.Iv'vith a downwardly tapering valveimembeifi 26-, t 'heupper end ofwhich fits the passageway 18. i .The extremity of said valvemembe'rissubstantially-conical so that when the f pistonflisforced downward bythe pressure of ft he atemh port 17 will be gradually fclosedgby saidmember. In the position shownin Fig: 2, the-flow, of water through theport 1:7 isf substant-ially unobstructed byj? the valve rr'ieii ber,.but,v asthe piston moves downward slowl'y5flthe flow of water throughthe portwill be gradually diminished until 8.0 finally g t cut} oilaltogether. A spring of the proper.- tenSibn" having been first, ob-,

{tained,; it be -,'seenthat the piston will be forcedfdownwardlyito-a.lsufie1ent extent l 'e ghithv Pa es 1 rpm 2. fi ldi the :vvat'erpressure in the service iipe ,d be "-4 0 increasedg howev'e "thepis tonwan-b wnw rd y i t ord i such iihl crease'd pressure and T-thevalveport'17 will "be correspondingly reduced by; the down. j wardmovementofthevalve so'that the vol 4 time oilwater deliveredto the casing willbe Tunvaried.- If, however,- the pressurein the "service-pipe d -,.bedecreased, .the' 'iston will move upwardly andtheport' Will iJQ open to,

. a greatergeiztent by tlie,valve member, so :that in this leaselikewise the volume" of wa-.'; ter delivered 'to; the casing will be--u-nolimi'n-.;v

'ished.i, I v Q TI interpose-betvyeen the cup or upper por- ,tion of thecasing and'the chamber inthe;

I lowerf'portion'ofjthe casing a; throttling" valve which. is Iindicatedat 27 It' be- I 'observed thatthe reduced endof the cup'hasan'interrial fiahgeiwhiclfforms a; port 28' be- 4 tween the cup'andthechamber. '-The throt; tling valve ,1s threaded into the bottom-of thecupf'so that its reduced end is in rox-r ""i'mity to thelport 28.anclponsequent y, by ingfthevalve inzor' out,' the port may; o'rz'zlessthrdttled; \Encircling the-1 "iras'mma e tempt t is Pmvided' with aplurality of'reduced apertures 29 f through which the water asses from"the port 28; to the interior. of t e" cup, as -indicarted-by the arrowsFigs. %'and 5.;"1Zhe piston 2fl1has a hiq sliding, lit in t c linedricalchamberg-but, as it 1s; possible thatizt, times some'water may leak by,it; the-cap25 is provi ed' with an 5outlet ap'erture 1 3 0;' throu sink;I H I, In Fig. 7, Ihaveshown a much more ple' and preferred'form of. theinvention which the casing forms a singlechamber for the piston'so thatthe piston is 'placed di- .rectly in the cup itself. in this case, thecup or bowl is indicated at 31, and, as shown, it i consists ofasubstantially cylindrical casing," being internally threaded at itsupper'end to" receive the cap or nozzle32 which has the -port"33-';f0rthe emission of the jet oi bubble; 5 The lower endf'of the cup isreduced; audit iis providedwith an, externally-threaded annula'r flange0rl' neck-J,; 34c which may. be screwed into, the'j'se'r'vice pipe 03Leading from the neckto the interior of thelcasing, vthere is. a port-35through which the-water passes from theservice pipe intp the cup; and itis"this" port which is controllediby'th ei ",tapering valve member BGwhich depends portionand also a lower cylindrical end ysoj thatfwheh thepiston rises toitsmaXimum'; -height,-. the port 35 will beentirelyclosed; Between": the piston and the cap there placed a helical spring38 vwhich,isr heldin' Q placefby "a s'pindle'39 on the piston, and-by ahollow-sleeve l0 depending from the/cap. The. piston itself is providedwith a porter aperture 41"t-hr6'ugh which the water-flows "from thelower portion of-thei-up into the v ,upper portion thereof, this portbeingcon trollcd'brya, slotted throttlingvalve 41, -With.thisconstruction; the water flowing the service pipe into the cupv below thepiston, raises the'piston against the tension of'the' spring so as topartially closetheport and thus permit the normal flow of water throughthe aperture in the piston into the cup and thus provide for a jet orbubble of the normal height. Should the pressure in l thei, servi,cepipe be increased, the piston will ,7

.be raised'slo as topa-rtially close the port 35, and, if the pressuredecrease,-the spring 38 will force the piston'downward so-that the portwill be opened toa greaterextent; It 'will be understood that theservice pipe will be provided w ith the usual key valve by whichthejanitor or other attendant will cut oil the flow when thejountain is not125 'use.- y

In both forms of the invention, the casing, with its inclosed'regulating va'lge, is

rovided with a nozzle for vformi gh which said water. may drip into thefrom the cup piston"??? loi( :a-t ed withi I the 951k .1:

cup. "Thefvalve member. 36 has a taper-ingi 11-bit vice is in operationor is a and yieldingmeans in said chamber having munic'ating with saidnozzle, and means 10- similar fixture, without requiring anymastantially unvarying height irrespective of pressure of the water forpartially-opening or closing the said port and thereby mamtaining aconstant .jet or 'bubble at a predewhich, so far as theautomatic'regulation of the height of the bubble is concerned, is whollyindependent of any other fountains or fixtures which may be connectedwith the same'service pipe. Consequently each fountain may besubstituted for a faucetor terial alteration in the service piping, andwill deliver at all times a bubble of substantially unvarying height.Moreover in both forms of the invention, the-nozzle is immovable withrespect to the casing, in the sense that itsposition is unchangedbyvarying pressures in the service pipe. All exterior or exposedportions of-the head or fitting arezrigid or immov ble while thedeeliverin water, the controlling or regulating mec anisms. being allcovered or contained within the head.

What I claim is: I 4,

1. A self-contained self-regulating 'bubbling drinking fountain head,compr sing a cup-like casing forming a chamber and having at its upperportion a nozzle immovable with respect to theremainder of'said' casingand provided .with a port for the emission of a vertical jet or bubble,an inlet port,

an area exposed to'the pressureoofincoming Water insaid chamber andarranged to'regu late the flow of water through said inlet port, inconsequence of which the bubble or jet emitted from the outlet port isof subthe pressure of waterentering said casing.

2. A self-contained self-regulating bubbling fountain head, comprising asubstan tially upright casing having at its upper end an immovablenozzle apertured for the emission of a jet or bubble, and a-portcomcated within said casing controlled by the termined height.

3. A self-contained self-regulating bubbling drinking fountain,comprising a cas-.

ing having at its lower portion an inlet port Copies of this patent mayobtained! sure ofwater in the service said piston, whereby the pressureof water in said casing is kept substantially unvaried irrespective ofthe variations in the prespipe leading to said inlet pipe.

4. In a bubbling drinking fountain, a cup having at its upper end anozzle with an outlet port for the emission of a,substantially verticalbubble or jet, and having at its lower end an inlet port, and means 10-cated within said cup for maintaining a constant water pressure 1n saldcup, said means comprising a valve seat havingian m- .let port, areducing valve member for controlling said port, and a spring-tensionedpiston located between said orts connected to said reducing valve mem erand receiving the pressure of water admitted to said valve through saidinlet port, there being a water duct through said piston. 1

5. A self-contained self regulating bubbling fountain, comprising acasing having at its lower end an inlet port formed with a valve seat,and having at its upper end a nozzle with an outlet port or aperture forthe emission of a substantially vertical jetor bubble, saidnozzleshaving an annular flange extending into the fountain throughwhich the water flows to said port or aperture, .an apertured piston inthe casing and having a reduced valve member cooperating withthe saidinlet port and valve seat, and

a spring encircling said flange and bearing against the said plston.

In testimonywhereof I have afiixed my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

v SIMEON O. KEITH, JR. Witnesses:

MARCUS B. MAY, .P. W. PEZZE'I'II.

